M.clutter - Revision history

Windwalkr at 09:37, 5 March 2018

2018-03-05T09:37:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:37, 5 March 2018
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	[[m.clutter]] is a variation on the [[m.pbrmetalmasked]] material. It adds controlled fade distances which are intended to allow cross-fading between LODs. It does not include support for parallax mapping. All PBR materials are defined using a multitude of texture channels (not just a simple RGB image) which define various aspects of the material on a per-texel basis. One major advantage of this approach is that a single in-game material can be used to display various different real-world materials, rather than requiring multiple separate in-game materials with different parameters. Trainz uses a Metallic/Roughness style PBR workflow.		[[m.clutter]] is a variation on the [[m.pbrmetalmasked]] material. It adds controlled fade distances which are intended to allow cross-fading between LODs. It does not include support for parallax mapping. All PBR materials are defined using a multitude of texture channels (not just a simple RGB image) which define various aspects of the material on a per-texel basis. One major advantage of this approach is that a single in-game material can be used to display various different real-world materials, rather than requiring multiple separate in-game materials with different parameters. Trainz uses a Metallic/Roughness style PBR workflow.

	This ~~pre-release~~ material is intended for use with the [[Clutter Effect Layer]], and ~~will be~~ tuned to suit that purpose to the detriment of any other possible use-case. While it is ~~currently expected that~~ the material ~~will be available~~ to other asset ~~types~~, ~~this availability~~ is ~~not locked in at the current time~~.		This material is intended for use with the [[Clutter Effect Layer]], and is tuned to suit that purpose to the detriment of any other possible use-case. While it is permissible to use the material with non-clutter asset types, we reserve the right to make changes to the behaviour of the material in ways that do not impact negatively on the clutter effect layer usage, even where those changes negatively impact other uses. For this reason, and because performance of an m.clutter asset is likely to be lower than an equivalent m.pbrmetal asset, it is recommended that m.clutter is used for a non-clutter asset only where substantial performance and visual gains are possible which cannot be achieved using other techniques.

	This page describes content format v4.6 and assumes that the FBX file format is used as a data source for any meshes.		This page describes content format v4.6 and assumes that the FBX file format is used as a data source for any meshes.

Tonyhilliam at 01:29, 17 January 2018

2018-01-17T01:29:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:29, 17 January 2018
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	[[Category:Material types\| ]]		[[Category:Material types\| ]]
			[[Category:Modeling]]
			[[Category:Content creation]]

N3vpolsen at 05:39, 10 November 2017

2017-11-10T05:39:32Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:39, 10 November 2017
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	'''Many Clutter Assets Onscreen'''		'''Many Clutter Assets Onscreen'''

	If it's not obvious on that Art Recommendations page; for any large amount of clutter objects you use onscreen at one time, it's best to have at least the lowest LODs (which shouldn't be very far from the camera) using an [[Texture Atlas]]. The texture atlas should be as small as can be while maintaining good visual results (256x256 perhaps) and will hold all the images for all the assets lowest LODs. This means when the lowest LODs are showing (which should be the majority of clutter onscreen most of the time) you'll only be paying the cost of 1 material shared across all the lowest LODs. You will also want to share as many single textures between as many assets as possible to cut-down on draw calls where possible - If you have 3 ferns all of different sizes, don't make 3 copies of the same texture.		If it's not obvious on that Art Recommendations page; for any large amount of clutter objects you use onscreen at one time, it's best to have at least the lowest LODs (which shouldn't be very far from the camera) using a [[Texture Atlas]]. The texture atlas should be as small as can be while maintaining good visual results (256x256 perhaps) and will hold all the images for all the assets lowest LODs. This means when the lowest LODs are showing (which should be the majority of clutter onscreen most of the time) you'll only be paying the cost of 1 material shared across all the lowest LODs. You will also want to share as many single textures between as many assets as possible to cut-down on draw calls where possible - If you have 3 ferns all of different sizes, don't make 3 copies of the same texture.

	[[File:plant4textureatlas.jpg\|1350px]]		[[File:plant4textureatlas.jpg\|1350px]]

N3vpolsen: /* Many vs. One Clutter Asset Onscreen */

2017-11-10T05:31:51Z

Many vs. One Clutter Asset Onscreen

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:31, 10 November 2017
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	'''Many Clutter Assets Onscreen'''		'''Many Clutter Assets Onscreen'''

	If it's not obvious on that Art Recommendations page; for any large amount of clutter objects you use onscreen at one time, it's best to have at least the lowest LODs (which shouldn't be very far from the camera) using an [[Texture Atlas]]. The texture atlas should be as small as can be while maintaining good visual results (256x256 perhaps) and will hold all the images for all the assets lowest LODs. This means when the lowest LODs are showing (which should be the majority of clutter onscreen most of the time) you'll only be paying the cost of 1 material shared across all the lowest LODs. You will also want to share as many single textures between as many assets as possible to cut-down on draw calls where possible.		If it's not obvious on that Art Recommendations page; for any large amount of clutter objects you use onscreen at one time, it's best to have at least the lowest LODs (which shouldn't be very far from the camera) using an [[Texture Atlas]]. The texture atlas should be as small as can be while maintaining good visual results (256x256 perhaps) and will hold all the images for all the assets lowest LODs. This means when the lowest LODs are showing (which should be the majority of clutter onscreen most of the time) you'll only be paying the cost of 1 material shared across all the lowest LODs. You will also want to share as many single textures between as many assets as possible to cut-down on draw calls where possible - If you have 3 ferns all of different sizes, don't make 3 copies of the same texture.

	[[File:plant4textureatlas.jpg\|1350px]]		[[File:plant4textureatlas.jpg\|1350px]]

N3vpolsen: /* Cross-Fading */

2017-11-10T05:30:43Z

Cross-Fading

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:30, 10 November 2017
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	=Cross-Fading=		=Cross-Fading=

	An example video of a crossfade clutter asset can be found [[https://youtu.be/HIagn2cpq-o HERE]].		An example video of a crossfade clutter asset can be found [https://youtu.be/HIagn2cpq-o HERE].

	Cross-fading is expected to increase the cost of each LOD, but improve the visual transitions. The intent is that transitions can occur much closer to the camera, saving performance overall. If your use-case does not allow transitions to occur close to the camera, you may find that this material type is inappropriate for your needs. The typical use case is something which is small and heavily repeated in the scene, which requires high detail (eg. 100-500 polygons) at very close ranges (eg. up to about 10m) after which it can rapidly lose detail (eg. 500->100->10 or 100->25->5).		Cross-fading is expected to increase the cost of each LOD, but improve the visual transitions. The intent is that transitions can occur much closer to the camera, saving performance overall. If your use-case does not allow transitions to occur close to the camera, you may find that this material type is inappropriate for your needs. The typical use case is something which is small and heavily repeated in the scene, which requires high detail (eg. 100-500 polygons) at very close ranges (eg. up to about 10m) after which it can rapidly lose detail (eg. 500->100->10 or 100->25->5).

N3vpolsen: /* Material Attributes */

2017-11-10T05:29:23Z

Material Attributes

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:29, 10 November 2017
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	Take this for example:		Take this for example:

	You have a small fern (Fern_Mesh_Small.trainzmesh) and a large fern (Fern_Mesh_Large.trainzmesh) and you want the small one to fade out at 100 meters and the large one to fade out at 300 meters. In order to do this you will need one unique material for each mesh ~~that~~ will still use the same textures.		You have a small fern (Fern_Mesh_Small.trainzmesh) and a large fern (Fern_Mesh_Large.trainzmesh) and you want the small one to fade out at 100 meters and the large one to fade out at 300 meters. In order to do this you will need one unique material for each mesh (and in this case, each unique material will still use the same textures, but isn't always the case. You might have different looking meshes that can't share the textures).

	Fern_Mesh_Small.trainzmesh will be configured with (say) bodysmall.m.clutter		Fern_Mesh_Small.trainzmesh will be configured with (say) bodysmall.m.clutter

N3vpolsen: /* Cross-Fading */

2017-11-10T05:21:31Z

Cross-Fading

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:21, 10 November 2017
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	lod0.trainmesh - consists of 600 polys and 2 materials (say: materialA.m.clutter and materialB.m.clutter)		lod0.trainmesh - consists of 600 polys and 2 materials (say: materialA.m.clutter and materialB.m.clutter)

	lod1.trainmesh - consists of 120 polys and 2 materials (say: materialC.m.clutter and materialD.m.clutter)		lod1.trainmesh - consists of 120 polys and 2 materials (say: materialC.m.clutter and materialD.m.clutter)

	lod2.trainmesh - consists of 20 polys and 1 materials (say: materialE.m.clutter)		lod2.trainmesh - consists of 20 polys and 1 materials (say: materialE.m.clutter)


	~~you~~'ll need to setup the [[mesh metadata file\|mesh metadata files]] for each like so.		You'll need to setup the [[mesh metadata file\|mesh metadata files]] for each like so. Create each metadata.txt file:

	Create each metadata.txt file:

	lod0.txt		lod0.txt

N3vpolsen: /* Cross-Fading */

2017-11-10T05:20:37Z

Cross-Fading

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:20, 10 November 2017
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	materialB.m.clutter		materialB.m.clutter
	{		{
	fadeInEndDistance 20		fadeInEndDistance 20
	}		}
	}		}
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	materialD.m.clutter		materialD.m.clutter
	{		{
	fadeInEndDistance 50		fadeInEndDistance 50
	}		}
	}		}
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	}		}
	}		}


	=Texture Slots=		=Texture Slots=

N3vpolsen at 05:20, 10 November 2017

2017-11-10T05:20:05Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:20, 10 November 2017
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	'''Metadata Configuration'''		'''Crossfade Metadata Configuration'''

	As mentioned above, every mesh needs a unique material applied to it in order for crossfading from one mesh to another to work. They can still use the same textures, just the materials need to be unique.		As mentioned above, every mesh needs a unique material applied to it in order for crossfading from one mesh to another to work. They can still use the same textures, just the materials need to be unique.
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	'''Metadata Configuration'''		'''General Metadata Configuration'''

	If an asset has multiple instances of a material across multiple meshes, it is important to note that this shared material needs to be identical on all meshes and in all [[mesh metadata file]]. This is important to note for [[Mesh Libraries]] because several meshes in the library will share the same material name. When you import your content into Content Manager, Trainz processes all the meshes and checks to make sure all the meshes using the same material use the same fadeInEndDistance and fadeOutEndDistance values in each of the [[mesh metadata file]]. If any of the shared material names have different values in the mesh metadata files you will end up with errors in Content Manager for your asset telling you which assets are conflicting.		If an asset has multiple instances of a material across multiple meshes, it is important to note that this shared material needs to be identical on all meshes and in all [[mesh metadata file]]. This is important to note for [[Mesh Libraries]] because several meshes in the library will share the same material name. When you import your content into Content Manager, Trainz processes all the meshes and checks to make sure all the meshes using the same material use the same fadeInEndDistance and fadeOutEndDistance values in each of the [[mesh metadata file]]. If any of the shared material names have different values in the mesh metadata files you will end up with errors in Content Manager for your asset telling you which assets are conflicting.

N3vpolsen at 05:19, 10 November 2017

2017-11-10T05:19:10Z

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 The cost of using additional materials can be further mitigated by re-using the materials between multiple clutter assets which are likely to be used together, via a [[texture atlas]].
 =Texture Slots=
@@ Line 132: / Line 201: @@
-'''Materials and Fading'''
+'''Metadata Configuration'''
 If an asset has multiple instances of a material across multiple meshes, it is important to note that this shared material needs to be identical on all meshes and in all [[mesh metadata file]]. This is important to note for [[Mesh Libraries]] because several meshes in the library will share the same material name. When you import your content into Content Manager, Trainz processes all the meshes and checks to make sure all the meshes using the same material use the same fadeInEndDistance and fadeOutEndDistance values in each of the [[mesh metadata file]]. If any of the shared material names have different values in the mesh metadata files you will end up with errors in Content Manager for your asset telling you which assets are conflicting.